Decentralized Apps are causing a positive stir in the tech world. It solves problems with innovative approach.

Decentralized Apps are crafted to be more flexible, transparent, distributed, resilient, and have a better incentivized structure than current software models.

In this article, we will help you to understand the meaning, structure and relevance of this intriguing concept.

What are Decentralized Apps?

DApps are distributed internet apps which runs on decentralized P2P network. It’s code base is publicly open for others as an open source to be accessed and customized. DApp is not owned by any single node in the network.

Presently, we saved most of our important information in centralized applications .These apps are operational with typical servers. This approach allows one single body to have control over everything we do on these applications. This puts our privacy at risk.

Some features of a Decentralized Applications

Cryptography Tokens

Users should be required to use tokens to access the app. Tokens can also be sent to people within the p2p node who is contributing to building of the app. Within this same nodes, miners are rewarded with the secured tokens which is encrypted with the use of cryptography.

Data Should Be Stored Cryptographically

The Applications data must be cryptographically stored. Its data and operation records are held in decentralized public blockchain.

Open-source

Decentralized Apps are not controlled by any particular company.It has to operate autonomously where no single node controls the majority of its token. Any changes in the Decentralized App is exercised using Consensus protocols decided by the participant users

In order to make their tokens available in the markets, DApps follow three common avenues mining, fundraising, and development. The mining system, as I mentioned earlier works on the Proof-of-Work protocol. This system enables the large number of tokens to be distributed contributors.

How Do Decentralized Apps Function?

The blockchain serves as a permanent storage or register for records/transactions which anyone can gain access to at any time.There are popular protocols which are used are proof-of-work or proof-of-stake. They are used to reach an agreement between users of a particular DApp.

The Decentralized Apps fasten is the process for scalability of product development in terms of both quality and quantity.

Categories of Decentralized Apps

As specified by Ethereum, Decentralized apps are divided into the following categories. There are currently three categories of applications built on the Ethereum Blockchain.

1.) Financial applications

These applications provide users with more powerful ways of managing and entering into contracts using their money.

2.) Governance Applications

Examples of Decentralized Apps that fit into this category include; online voting & decentralized governance that are not financial at all.

3.) Semi-financial applications

This involves Applications where money is involved, but there is also a heavy non-monetary side to what is being done

Difference between Decentralized Apps & Smart Contracts

Decentralized Apps are ‘blockchain enabled’ web apps, while the Smart Contract protocol is what allows it to connect to the blockchain.

Decentralized Apps are similar to a conventional web application. The front end uses the exact same technology to render the page. One critical difference is that instead of an API connecting to a Database, you have a Smart Contract connecting to a blockchain.

Centralized web application are built with HTML, CSS and Javascript. The website will also need to grab details from a database with the aid of an API.

When you go onto Facebook for example , the page will call an API to grab your personal data and display them on the page.

List of some revolutionary Decentralized Apps

1.) Decentralized News Network – Decentralized apps

The DNN application uses tokens as a means of providing incentivize factual news coverage. This Dapp has no central control . The site’s content are written by the people who use it; making it much harder for biased news.

Writers are rewarded by readers by the quality of content, not what the news agenda decides to push as the front headline.

Everything is fact checked by reviewers who are paid in tokens for checking.

2.) Leeroy – Decentralized apps

Leeroy is a Twitter like application. Statuses can be upvoted with tokens, paying the writer for solid content. It also allows the users to create and control the database.

It’s a bit expensive and bulky now. The fact that it is working and improving as a result of people using it shows that this is the future of social networking.

Social networks of the future will be run by the people who use the platform. It will be free of advertisements and completely decentralized.

3.) Augar – Decentralized apps

Augur allows you to make predictions about real-world events not limited to financial markets. The platform turns your prediction into “shares” that other users can buy or sell.

4.) Aragon – Decentralized apps

Aragon is an amazing decentralized management platform, also built on the Ethereum blockchain. It wants to break down the traditional barriers that restrict our everyday activities.

In other words, Aragon wants to make it easier to create private Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), along with everything you need to succeed.

This means this application will make available; arbitration, token management and transfers, role assignments, fundraising, and much more.

5.) SAFE Network – Decentralized apps

It uses a decentralized approach to protecting consumer data and private communication. SAFE, which stands for Secure Access For Everyone. It uses peer-to-peer technology to share that computing power between connected users.

If you contribute your storage space and network capacity, you’ll earn MaidSafe, the SAFE Network token. In turn, you can trade this for Bitcoin.

6.) OpenBazaar – Decentralized apps

OpenBazaar aims to be a decentralized version of Ebay. It is built on the BitTorrent protocol.

Sellers need to have their own server and leave it on in order for users to be able to see their items.

Ideally sellers could just upload their store data to the network, perhaps paying a small fee, without having to worry about it. This requires a decentralized system.

7.) FireChat – Decentralized apps

FireChat emerged with a famous use case—the 2014 Hong Kong protests for democracy. China’s infamous “Great Firewall” is notorious for blocking IP addresses for content that it deems prodemocracy or just not in its interest.

The protesters feared the government would try to shut down access to various social networks to stop collaboration as is possible to do with the HTTP protocol.

Instead, they used FireChat, an app that used a new feature in iOS 7 called multipeer connectivity. It makes it possible for phones to connect to each other directly without a third party. Because it had no central point of failure.

8.) Etheria game – Decentralized apps

According to the project website, the “entire state of the world is held in and all player actions are made through the decentralized, trustless Ethereum blockchain“.

Until now, it points out, all virtual worlds have been controlled by a single entity. All aspects of Etheria.